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New VA hospital headed to Fitzsimons

Denver will get a new VA hospital, and
the current facility on Colorado Blvd. will be shuttered. The
facility will serve Colorado veterans.

U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) announced that on Friday the U.S.
Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives authorized a new 1.4
million-square-foot veterans’ hospital adjacent to the Fitzsimons
campus in Aurora to replace the Department of Veterans

Affairs medical center in Denver.

“This is the final step in the authorizing
process and will help make the new VA medical center at Fitzsimons
a reality,” said Allard. “In addition to authorizing $98 million
for construction, this legislation also gives the VA the authority
to begin site acquisition and other preconstruction
activities.”

This authorization is needed to allow
Veterans Affairs to purchase the site and begin additional design
work. The bill authorizes $52 million

in federal funding in addition to $46
million in reprogrammed money from previous fiscal years at the
Veterans Affairs. Earlier this year, Allard

introduced a stand alone bill to authorize
funding for Fitzsimons.

“As a member of the Military
Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, I am
particularly pleased that this project

has now been authorized,” said Allard.
“Colorado veterans now have an aging, inadequate facility. Building
this new VA hospital is of great

importance to me and I look forward to the
president’s signature completing this process.”

Mayor Ed Tauer echoed Allard’s
sentiments, “We’re thrilled to work with Senator Allard to bring
Colorado veterans this new state-of-the-art

medical facility. It’s great for the
vets, it’s great for Aurora and it’s great for the entire
region.”

The legislation passed the Senate in
September, but was amended by the

House and needed to pass through the
Senate again. The president is

expected to sign the legislation in the
near future. Allard is a member

of the Senate Appropriations Committee,
which will provide funding for